ROBERT OF SICILY

: Stories To Tell Children

An old legend says that there was once a king named Robert of Sicily,

who was brother to the Great Pope of Rome and to the Emperor of

Allemaine. He was a very selfish king, and very proud; he cared more for

his pleasures than for the needs of his people, and his heart was so

filled with his own greatness that he had no thought for God.



One day, this proud king was sitting in his place at church, at vesper

service; his courtiers were about him, in their bright garments, and he

himself was dressed in his royal robes. The choir was chanting the Latin

service, and as the beautiful voices swelled louder, the king noticed

one particular verse which seemed to be repeated again and again. He

turned to a learned clerk at his side and asked what those words meant,

for he knew no Latin.



"They mean, 'He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and hath

exalted them of low degree,'" answered the clerk.



"It is well the words are in Latin, then," said the king angrily, "for

they are a lie. There is no power on earth or in heaven which can put me

down from my seat!" and he sneered at the beautiful singing, as he

leaned back in his place.



Presently the king fell asleep, while the service went on. He slept

deeply and long. When he awoke the church was dark and still, and he was

all alone. He, the king, had been left alone in the church, to awake in

the dark! He was furious with rage and surprise, and, stumbling through

the dim aisles, he reached the great doors and beat at them, madly,

shouting for his servants.



The old sexton heard some one shouting and pounding in the church, and

thought it was some drunken vagabond who had stolen in during the

service. He came to the door with his keys and called out, "Who is

there?"



"Open! open! It is I, the king!" came a hoarse, angry voice from within.



"It is a crazy man," thought the sexton; and he was frightened. He

opened the doors carefully and stood back, peering into the darkness.

Out past him rushed the figure of a man in tattered, scanty clothes,

with unkempt hair and white, wild face. The sexton did not know that he

had ever seen him before, but he looked long after him, wondering at his

wildness and his haste.



In his fluttering rags, without hat or cloak, not knowing what strange

thing had happened to him, King Robert rushed to his palace gates,

pushed aside the startled servants, and hurried, blind with rage, up the

wide stair and through the great corridors, toward the room where he

could hear the sound of his courtiers' voices. Men and women servants

tried to stop the ragged man, who had somehow got into the palace, but

Robert did not even see them as he fled along. Straight to the open

doors of the big banquet hall he made his way, and into the midst of the

grand feast there.



The great hall was filled with lights and flowers; the tables were set

with everything that is delicate and rich to eat; the courtiers, in

their gay clothes, were laughing and talking; and at the head of the

feast, on the king's own throne, sat a king. His face, his figure, his

voice were exactly like Robert of Sicily; no human being could have told

the difference; no one dreamed that he was not the king. He was dressed

in the king's royal robes, he wore the royal crown, and on his hand was

the king's own ring. Robert of Sicily, half naked, ragged, without a

sign of his kingship on him, stood before the throne and stared with

fury at this figure of himself.



The king on the throne looked at him. "Who art thou, and what dost thou

here?" he asked. And though his voice was just like Robert's own, it had

something in it sweet and deep, like the sound of bells.



"I am the king!" cried Robert of Sicily. "I am the king, and you are an

impostor!"



The courtiers started from their seats, and drew their swords. They

would have killed the crazy man who insulted their king; but he raised

his hand and stopped them, and with his eyes looking into Robert's eyes

he said, "Not the king; you shall be the king's jester! You shall wear

the cap and bells, and make laughter for my court. You shall be the

servant of the servants, and your companion shall, be the jester's ape."



With shouts of laughter, the courtiers drove Robert of Sicily from the

banquet hall; the waiting-men, with laughter, too, pushed him into the

soldiers' hall; and there the pages brought the jester's wretched ape,

and put a fool's cap and bells on Robert's head. It was like a terrible

dream; he could not believe it true, he could not understand what had

happened to him. And when he woke next morning, he believed it was a

dream, and that he was king again. But as he turned his head, he felt

the coarse straw under his cheek instead of the soft pillow, and he saw

that he was in the stable, with the shivering ape by his side. Robert of

Sicily was a jester, and no one knew him for the king.



Three long years passed. Sicily was happy and all things went well under

the king, who was not Robert. Robert was still the jester, and his heart

grew harder and more bitter with every year. Many times, during the

three years, the king, who had his face and voice, had called him to

himself, when none else could hear, and had asked him the one question,

"Who art thou?" And each time that he asked it his eyes looked into

Robert's eyes, to find his heart. But each time Robert threw back his

head and answered, proudly, "I am the king!" And the other king's eyes

grew sad and stern.



At the end of three years, the Pope called the Emperor of Allemaine and

the King of Sicily, his brothers, to a great meeting in his city of

Rome. The King of Sicily went, with all his soldiers and courtiers and

servants,--a great procession of horsemen and footmen. Never had there

been seen a finer sight than the grand train, men in bright armour,

riders in wonderful cloaks of velvet and silk, servants, carrying

marvellous presents to the Pope. And at the very end rode Robert, the

jester. His horse was poor and old, many-coloured, and the ape rode with

him. Every one in the villages through which they passed ran after the

jester, and pointed and laughed.



The Pope received his brothers and their trains in the square before

Saint Peter's. With music and flags and flowers he made the King of

Sicily welcome, and greeted him as his brother. In the midst of it, the

jester broke through the crowd and threw himself before the Pope. "Look

at me!" he cried; "I am your brother, Robert of Sicily! This man is an

impostor, who has stolen my throne. I am Robert, the king!"



The Pope looked at the poor jester with pity, but the Emperor of

Allemaine turned to the King of Sicily, and said, "Is it not rather

dangerous, brother, to keep a madman as jester?" And again Robert was

pushed back among the serving-men.



It was Holy Week, and the king and the emperor, with all their trains,

went every day to the great services in the cathedral. Something

wonderful and holy seemed to make these services more beautiful than

ever before. All the people of Rome felt it: it was as if the presence

of an angel were there. Men thought of God, and felt His blessing on

them. But no one knew who it was that brought the beautiful feeling. And

when Easter Day came, never had there been so lovely, so holy a day: in

the great churches, filled with flowers, and sweet with incense, the

kneeling people listened to the choirs singing, and it was like the

voices of angels; their prayers were more earnest than ever before,

their praise more glad; there was something heavenly in Rome.



Robert of Sicily went to the services with the rest, and sat in the

humblest place with the servants. Over and over again he heard the

sweet voices of the choirs chant the Latin words he had heard long ago:

_He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted them of

low degree_. And at last, as he listened, his heart was softened. He,

too, felt the strange blessed presence of a heavenly power. He thought

of God, and of his own wickedness; he remembered how selfish he had

been, and how little good he had done; he realised, that his power had

not been from himself, at all. On Easter night, as he crept to his bed

of straw, he wept, not because he was so wretched, but because he had

not been a better king when power was his.



At last all the festivities were over, and the King of Sicily went home

to his own land again, with his people. Robert the jester came home too.



On the day of their home-coming, there was a special service in the

royal church, and even after the service was over for the people, the

monks held prayers of thanksgiving and praise. The sound of their

singing came softly in at the palace windows. In the great banquet room,

the king sat, wearing his royal robes and his crown, while many subjects

came to greet him. At last, he sent them all away, saying he wanted to

be alone; but he commanded the jester to stay. And when they were alone

together the king looked into Robert's eyes, as he had done before, and

said, softly, "Who art thou?"



Robert of Sicily bowed his head. "Thou knowest best," he said, "I only

know that I have sinned."



As he spoke, he heard the voices of the monks singing, _He hath put down

the mighty from their seat_,--and his head sank lower. But suddenly the

music seemed to change; a wonderful light shone all about. As Robert

raised his eyes, he saw the face of the king smiling at him with a

radiance like nothing on earth, and as he sank to his knees before the

glory of that smile, a voice sounded with the music, like a melody

throbbing on a single string,--



"I am an angel, and thou art the king!"



Then Robert of Sicily was alone. His royal robes were upon him once

more; he wore his crown and his royal ring. He was king. And when the

courtiers came back they found their king kneeling by his throne,

absorbed in silent prayer.